Jerry Jones: It looks like Anthony Spencer will avoid regular season PUP

Posted by Josh Alper on August 12, 2014, 4:42 PM EST

AP

The suspension of cornerback Orlando Scandrick for his dalliance with Molly is just the latest blow to a Cowboys defense that sometimes feels like it hasn’t provided any good news since the days of Charles Haley and Darren Woodson.

Given that backdrop, a player avoiding going on the regular season Physically Unable to Perform list would qualify as a major success and the Cowboys think they have one coming with defensive end Anthony Spencer. Spencer said he was getting close to returning from microfracture surgery a little more than a week ago and owner Jerry Jones sounded a hopeful note during an appearance on KRLD on Tuesday.

“He’s getting there,” Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It’s getting there at a faster pace than we thought. We’re hoping that when we get to our 53-man cut down that we’ll be dealing with that problem. The problem is: Do we keep him on the roster because he’s going to be ready to go in a game, or do we PUP him, which would mean we couldn’t use him for six games? It’s looking like we’ll keep him on the roster.”

Spencer played just a handful of snaps before heading to injured reserve last season and his return will be welcomed on a thin defensive line even if his play isn’t at quite the same level that it was before injury derailed his career.

Not sure this is good news. Placing Spencer on the PUP allows another healthy body on the roster for 6 weeks while placing him on the roster means, you will have a fragile player occupying a spot and may not be ready week one.